Game On: Rylor
by Danny Phantom SG-1
Summary: Response to zashleysilver's Game On challenge. Second game: Seven Minutes in Heaven. Being the quiet and reserved people they tend to be, Ryan and Taylor turn their noses up at such a lowly game...which causes them to get paired up for it. Pure fluff.
1. Duck, Duck, Goose

**A/N: Hey, guys. I'm actually too busy to have written this, but I was procrastinating. I joined the Game On challenge with the pairing of Rylor and figured that I should get started sometime...so here it is. Oneshot number one.**

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Duck, Duck…Goose

East Elementary school was buzzing that morning as they prepared for the arrival of some senior class members who had volunteered their time to teach and play with the kindergarteners.

Meanwhile, the students from East High were eagerly boarding the buses to get to said elementary school, as the only reason they had _really _volunteered their time was to get out of classes.

These six high school students had been friends and enemies on and off for two years now. As they scrambled into the bus (why they had a bus for only six students was beyond them), Troy Bolton took his permanent seat next to his girlfriend Gabriella Montez, Ryan Evans rolled his eyes as he was forced to sit next to his insistent sister, Sharpay, and Taylor McKessie, for want of having some sort of company, seated herself next to her ex-boyfriend (but still friend, of course), Chad Danforth.

The teenagers sat in surprising silence most of the way there. Troy and Gabriella were too busy making out and Ryan was avoiding all forms of conversation with his irritatingly bossy sister. Taylor and Chad were having another one of those "awkward moments" they had been having so frequently when they hung around Troy and Gabriella. It was too reminiscent of the old days…but, somehow, they really didn't want the old days back.

Upon arrival to the school, however, the group was terrified to hear the wild laughter of small children coming from the room to which they were assigned. Gulping and exchanging glances, the six of them cautiously opened the door to see a group of kids sitting in a circle and bopping each other on the head before maniacally chasing one poor, defenseless child.

This form of roughhousing was also known as "duck, duck, goose," though it appeared that the children required further instruction as to its rules, seeing as they never stopped their race around the circle. They just kept on running perpetually.

The teacher welcomed the six and instructed the children to get into their six previously designated groups and partner up with their respective senior. The high school students were then told that they were to teach the children how to play duck, duck, goose, but to be creative about it. Then, the teacher promptly left the room, thanking the Lord that she finally got some time away from those gray-hair inducing children.

"So…" Taylor started, a little unsure about what to do with these seven kids she had been assigned. "How about we get into a circle first?"

The children looked at her strangely, but complied. Once they were in a circle, the ringleader of her group asked, "What now?"

"Well…uh…let's see if I remember how to play this game. From what I remember, one of you has to walk around the circle and touch the other kids on the head, all the while saying 'duck.' However, when you want someone to chase you, you say, 'goose,' and they chase you all the way around the circle until you either reach their spot or get tagged. If you get tagged, you have to sit in the pot."

One child raised his hand, so Taylor nodded to acknowledge him. "What pot? We don't have a pot!"

Taylor sighed. "The pot is the spot in the middle of the circle."

He raised his hand again. "Why would you want someone to chase you if you knew they were gonna catch you and throw you into a pot?"

The other children mumbled in excited agreement. Taylor needed to act quickly. "It's just a game. It's really fun…I think."

Again, his hand flew up. "Yes?" Taylor said, exasperated.

"I wanna go in his group!" the boy shouted, pointing to the children headed by Ryan Evans.

Taylor looked over and saw that Ryan had the kids running around with their arms in the air. They were talking and giggling and quacking and squawking, and Ryan was joining them.

She made a face, "Ryan! She meant the game 'duck, duck, goose!' Not to pretend they're actual ducks and geese!"

Ryan looked over at Taylor, a smile on his face. "Aw, come on, Tay! We're just having a little fun. She said to be creative, didn't she, kids?"

The others responded with joyous bouts of laughter before continuing to play their make-believe game.

Meanwhile, Taylor's group was looking up at her with eyes filled with sorrow and boredom.

"WE WANNA BE IN WYAN'S GWOUP! WAHH!" one of them cried. Once he began to bawl, so did the rest of her students. Pretty soon, Taylor was left, distraught, with a gaggle of crying children.

The horrific sounds they emitted alerted Ryan to her situation. Determined, he turned to his group and said, "You know what? I think that Chad and Sharpay's groups look pretty fun, too. Why don't you guys run over and try their version of the game. If you don't like it, you can teach them ours! How about that?" he asked calmly.

"Okay!" the shouted before retreating to the other groups.

Then, Ryan walked over to Taylor's crying kids and told them to do the same. Chad looked angrily back at whoever was tossing all these kids his way, but his features softened when he saw that Ryan was taking Taylor out of the room, trying to comfort her. Something he had never been very good at.

Once outside of the room, Ryan shut the door and they sat down on a bench in the hallway. Taylor let out a frustrated grunt.

"Ugh, how do you do it, Ryan? I can't handle these kids! They're just…they have such miniscule attention spans. They won't pay attention to me and they get so distracted. They can't learn. I don't understand how you can take it so well."

Ryan chuckled. "I guess it's because I can relate to them. If you haven't noticed…I don't exactly get the best grades in the world. It's partially due to the fact that I have trouble paying attention. School bores me. Now, drama! That's another story altogether. The atmosphere never gets tiresome. So, I told the kids to _act_ like they were ducks and geese. It worked out pretty well, I would say," he said humbly.

"But…but, the rules, Ry! We have to teach them the rules!" Taylor whined indignantly.

To this, Ryan laughed even harder. "I was going to. Eventually. You gotta warm up to the kids first, though. Earn their trust. Then, they'll do whatever you say."

Taylor shrunk back and mumbled, "But I can't warm up to them. All I know how to do is teach them the rules."

Ryan gaped at her, shaking his head. "You just gotta loosen up, Tay. Have fun. Play with the kids."

"But I haven't played with anything for years, Ryan! I don't know how to play!" Taylor countered.

Ryan stood up from the bench. "Sure ya do. You never forget how to play! Get up, Taylor. I know what'll get you loosened up."

Hesitantly, Taylor stood up, her hands crossed over her chest as a sign of embarrassment and uncertainty. "What now?"

Ryan smiled mischievously. "We're gonna dance! It's like a mimic game...with dancing. Whatever I do and say, you have to copy me, okay?"

Taylor smiled cautiously. "I don't dance, Ry."

He rolled his eyes. "Please don't start that whole excuse up again. You know how I take that…"

Taylor giggled, remembering so long ago when Chad had served up the same excuse, only to be shown that he was exceedingly wrong.

"Ready?" he asked. Taylor nodded and continued to giggle as his eyes grew wide in excited anticipation.

"DUCK!" he yelled. He spun around in place and flapped his arms every which way. He looked like a crazy bird with a hyperactivity problem. "Your turn."

Taylor shook her head and blushed. "No way am I doing that."

Ryan pouted and looked at her pleadingly. "But you said you wanted to learn how to deal with the kids. I'm showing you. Come on, Taylor. You said you would. PLEASE?!?"

She couldn't resist the pitifully cute look on Ryan's face as he pouted at her and begged. She rolled her eyes and flailed her arms randomly, muttering "duck" as she spun around.

Ryan shook his head from side-to-side in mock assessment of her work and spoke in a rather poor British accent. "Not bad. You could work on your form, though. And when you say 'duck,' you must boast it to the world. Make everyone believe you. Instill inside of us some sort of emotion. Try again."

This time, however, he walked over to Taylor and stood behind her. He grabbed her arms and began to thrash them around for her, using his own arms to control the movement of hers. Taylor could not help but laugh at this absurd moment.

"There ya go! Laughter--that's a step in the right direction. Now yell it out. DUCK!" Ryan said, throwing his head back and cackling.

"Duck," Taylor said at her normal tone of voice.

"Louder!" Ryan commanded, whirling her entire body about now. He was holding her up and spinning her around and Taylor's giggle fit seemed incessant.

"DUCK!" She screamed in between fighting for breath as she laughed.

"Hoorah!" Ryan exclaimed, setting her down at last.

Taylor continued to giggle, but, for some reason, when he set her down, a little bit of her joy seemed to melt away, as though bodily contact with Ryan Evans had somehow given her…pleasure?

"How do you feel now?" Ryan asked breathily, most likely from having to hold her up for so long.

And yet, a blush seemed to be creeping into his cheeks as he eyed the feminine form before him. Perhaps his breathiness had emerged for another, more complicated and exciting, reason.

"I feel…better," Taylor said, closing the distance between herself and Ryan.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other, breathing heavily from the ordeal. Finally, something in Ryan's eyes seemed to plead with her again, and she complied much faster than she had before. He dipped his head closer to hers and she held up her hands to cup his face as their lips met. He pulled her closer to him, but kept the embrace fairly innocent, keeping in mind that they were in an elementary school.

They broke apart, still breathless, and stared into each other's eyes, confused and yet satisfied.

"Wow," Ryan said lowly.

Taylor laughed a little more (a feat she had not known possible). "I'll say."

Ryan cleared his throat and the two lengthened the distance between them by a few inches to make the atmosphere at little more breathable.

"Ahem…well, if that didn't loosen you up, nothing will," Ryan said ironically.

Taylor smiled up at him and walked closer, seductively. "I think it's my turn at this mimic game, Ry."

Ryan gulped and nodded as she reached up her hand to touch his hat.

"Goose," she whispered into his ear.

Before Ryan had a chance to react, Taylor was rushing over to the entrance of the kindergarten room. He looked over at her perplexedly, and she yelled back to him.

"You got us loosened up…now it's my turn to explain the rules of the game," she said, flinging the door open and scampering inside.

Ryan could only grin and follow her into the classroom.

And so, when the six high school students boarded the bus after a long and tiresome day with small children, Ryan made sure to get a good seat in the middle of the bus. When he saw his sister coming, Ryan risked his life and told her strictly not to sit with him. Sharpay had gaped at him in disbelief of his rebellion, but merely flung her hair and turned her back on him. She didn't need him, anyway.

When he saw Taylor coming, however, he made sure to get out of his seat and beckon her inside, allowing her to have the window. Once she sat down, they exchanged knowing glances and smiled contently as Ryan grabbed her hand and held it firmly.

Chad, for want of company, was stuck sitting with Sharpay…a move he would soon regret as she continually applied cosmetics and blathered on about the nerve of her brother and his irritating attitude.

Troy and Gabriella continued to attempt to break the record for how long two people could eat each other's faces without stopping.

Of course, Ryan and Taylor were both having mutual thoughts that, based on their brief kiss earlier, they could beat that record.

So much for an innocent game of Duck, Duck, Goose.

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**Wow, talk about off-topic fluff, no? Well, the criteria was to write a oneshot with the pairing based on duck, duck, goose. There you have it. I'd say that there wasn't enough of the actual game, but...maybe that's just me. If you have a problem, spotted a grammatical error, or are bothered by this in any way, leave me a review and let me know why. Likewise, if you enjoyed this, drop me a review, anyway. I appreciate it. Thanks. **


	2. Seven Minutes in Heaven

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, everyone, but I've got about 7 stories going on at once. This is oneshot number two for the Game On series. I chose "Seven Minutes In Heaven" as the second prompt. It's entirely too corny if you ask me, but...I guess I'll wait and see what my readers think. Enjoy.**

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It was yet another typical Troy Bolton party. All of the basketball players were there to celebrate their second championship game in a row, and Troy had taken the liberty of inviting anyone and everyone else who wanted to come…excluding Sharpay Evans, of whom he was quite afraid. So, naturally, when Ryan received his invitation (apparently upon the request of Gabriella), Sharpay took the liberty of inviting herself.

But for that small fact, Ryan wouldn't have gone to the party. He decided to go in order to apologize to Troy for whatever havoc his sister was planning on wreaking. Unbeknownst to her, she was about to cause more damage than even she could imagine.

Everyone was just sitting around, chatting away. Sharpay did not do well in these kinds of environments. She needed excitement and danger. She needed a game…an interesting game. So, amidst the jumble of sounds, Sharpay cleared her throat to get people's attention.

"Everyone! I think we should play a game," she said succinctly, waiting for a response first.

The jocks all nodded their quick approval; apparently the urge to move around and do _something_ was getting to everyone.

Ryan merely shook his head and rolled his eyes. There was really no point in approving of his sister's ideas as he knew she would get her way no matter what.

"What game?" asked Chad Danforth, who was pestering his unenthusiastic girlfriend, Taylor McKessie, by trying to get her to dance with him when she would much rather stay on the couch reading her book.

Sharpay's eyes sparkled with zeal. "We should play something…interesting. Something like…Seven Minutes in Heaven?" she suggested enticingly.

This garnered a few giggles on the girls' parts and some satisfied grumbles from the males. Well…most of them, anyway.

"Ew, I hate that game," came the chorus of two voices rarely heard together. Everyone turned to the couch to see Ryan and Taylor scrunching up their noses in disgust with the very idea of playing such a repulsive form of "entertainment."

Laughing loudly, Troy butted in, "Well, I guess that makes you two our first volunteers!"

Both of them shot him death glares, but he merely continued to guffaw.

Sharpay shrugged at his suggestion, "Why not? At least that way you two can get it over with…and then, those of us who really want to play," she said, gazing longingly at Troy, "can get started."

Everyone complied (Ryan and Taylor very reluctantly so), and began to make their way to Troy's basement, which everyone knew had a rather large closet in it for keeping all of his sports equipment. Troy was walking along with the crowd, hanging onto Gabriella's hand, when the force of something on his shoulder stopped him. He turned around and came face-to-face with a very steamed Chad Danforth.

"Dude, what's up?" Troy asked nervously, seeing the look of dissatisfaction on Chad's face.

"What's up? What do you think is up?!? You just offered up my girlfriend to go into a closet with some guy for seven minutes!" Chad said heatedly.

"Dude, chill, man. No one ever does anything in this game unless they're already dating," Troy said calmly.

"Oh yeah? How would you like it if Gabriella went off with some other guy? You have no idea what could happen!" Chad fumed.

"Look, man, I'm sorry. But, seriously, there's nothing to worry about," Troy said shortly, with an obvious hidden message in his voice as he winked at Chad secretively.

Suddenly, Chad seemed to understand. He chuckled a little in response and clarified, "I guess you're right. It is just Ryan."

But, what was meant to be a private conversation was overheard by the very topic of it. Ryan was walking by the two best friends when he caught Troy telling Chad that there was nothing to worry about.

He was just Ryan.

The worst part of it was the look of ultimate understanding and relief that passed over Chad's face at this very statement. Ryan was no threat to his relationship. He was no threat to anyone's relationship. He got the meaning loud and clear…and it angered him beyond reason.

Sharpay opened the closet door and began to throw Troy's things around the room. They needed more space, after all. Despite Troy's grunts of protest, Sharpay continued to toss his belongings out until the closet was next to empty. Then, she turned around, smirking at the first two culprits. "Well, get on in there."

Ryan and Taylor glanced at each other briefly before begrudgingly sauntering forward into the rather spacious closet. "Don't do anything too naughty. Remember, Mr. and Mrs. Bolton are still upstairs," Sharpay warned lightly to her brother.

Her warning received a few chuckles from the guys. This only proceeded to make Ryan even more miffed. He glared at them from under his stylish hat as Sharpay shut the closet door, leaving Ryan and Taylor alone in the complete darkness. The door seemed rather thick, so Ryan doubted anything they said would be heard by the outside occupants of the basement. Actually, he doubted anyone would be listening for anything from these two, anyway.

He was just Ryan, after all.

"Where's the light in here?" he grumbled, letting the rage in his voice shine through.

Taylor backed up a bit warily, having never heard Ryan so angry before. "I don't know. Maybe there's a switch on the wall."

Ryan felt around for the switch. When he found it, he flicked it up quickly. Then, he sat down on the floor, his hands angrily crossed in front of his chest like a child.

Taylor couldn't help but laugh at his dramatics. "Hey, this game's not that bad," she said, trying to calm him down.

Without looking at her, Ryan rolled his eyes and continued to pout. "It's not the game…"

Completely misunderstanding, Taylor sat down, and a hurt expression crossed over her features. "Oh…I'm sorry I'm not the girl you wanted to get stuck in here with, but—,"

Immediately, Ryan intervened, "NO! That's not it at all. Taylor, I…I'm just upset with something else," he said cryptically, finally looking over at her. The fury in his eyes died down a bit so that he could convey his apologetic tone better.

Taylor, however, was still unsure. "You seemed okay at the party. What's up?"

Ryan hesitated. Should he tell her? Well…what else were they going to do in this closet for the next five minutes? "They all think I'm gay," he said quietly to Taylor.

Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "There's nothing wrong with being gay," she said diplomatically.

Ryan let a small laugh escape. "No. That's not what I mean. The thing is, I'm not. They just think I am because of the way I dress and act. It just bugs me that they would judge me like that before they really know who I am."

Taylor nodded slowly, understanding. "I see. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think the way you dress is really snazzy."

Ryan grinned up at her, "Snazzy?"

Taylor giggled, "Yes, it is a compliment. You are a little on the dramatic side, though."

"I am not!" he puffed indignantly, sticking his chin up in mock defiance.

Her giggle fit wouldn't stop now. "I guess it's just because you're an actor. But, seriously, don't get mad at those guys. They don't know what they're talking about. It's high school. Everyone's like that. They're just jealous."

Ryan let a small smile play on his lips. "You really think so?"

She shrugged and said quietly, "They should be, anyway."

Ryan nodded uncertainly. "I guess I was just angry because I overheard Troy telling Chad not to worry about you and me being alone in a closet. Then, Chad said that he was right. He shouldn't be worried because I was…just Ryan."

Taylor's heart suddenly lurched in anger. "Just Ryan? Well…we'll see about that."

Ryan looked at her skeptically. "What do you mean?"

Taylor sighed, debating whether to say anything at all. "See, Chad has been…I don't know. He's a great guy to me and all, but sometimes, he's just so irritating. Like what he said about you, he says stuff like that about almost everyone. It's like he can't say anything nice about anyone anymore. I'd actually decided that I was going to break up with him this weekend if things didn't get better between us."

Ryan shook his head worriedly. "Oh, no. I don't want to be the reason you break up with Chad or anything, I was just—"

Taylor laughed a little. "No, it's not your fault Ryan. I was going to break up with him anyway. It just might be sooner rather than later now."

Ryan nodded, still nervous. "So…how much longer do we have to sit in here?"

Taylor looked at her watch and responded, "Two minutes."

Ryan simply continued to nod absentmindedly, his mind whirling. Taylor's mind, on the other hand, was working with rapid-fire speed as she sorted through all of her possible thoughts. Maybe now was the time…

"Ryan?" she said, suddenly breathless.

Her tone caused him to turn to stare directly at her, his blue eyes still shining with guilt.

She took a deep breath and proceeded to mumble, "I think I know what Gabriella was talking about, now…"

Ryan made a face at her, "What?"

Taylor situated herself so that she was sitting directly in front of Ryan, took a deep breath, and started, "One time, Gabriella told me that she felt like there was this whole other person inside of her waiting to get out. I told her I'd never felt that way before. But now…now that I've told you about me and Chad and I've got that out of my system…I'm beginning to understand what she meant."

Ryan shook his head slowly, still not following. "I don't understand, Tay."

Taylor laughed out loud, unable to believe that she had fooled herself for so long. "I've had a crush on you, Ryan, ever since the spring musical last year. I sat next to Gabriella in the third row and all I remember is that I couldn't stop talking about was how great you moved and sang and danced and looked and…Ryan?"

His eyes were now wide with shock as he stared at Taylor incredulously. He did not move otherwise.

Suddenly, amidst their stunned silence, the voice of Ryan's sister carried through the door.

"Okay, one more minute and you guys have to come out so the next two people can go!" Sharpay screamed perkily.

The two occupants of the closet looked at each other with wide eyes, both full of excitement, uncertainty, danger and the prospect of something new.

Unexpectedly, Ryan put a hand out to caress Taylor's face. As he did so, she closed her eyes and instinctively moved closer to him. Ryan pulled closer to her as well and they shared a warm, serene kiss in Troy Bolton's closet.

As they pulled away Ryan looked into her eyes, as if for approval. Taylor's own optics shined and gazed into his with awe. There was no way that Chad could beat that. It was like kissing your celebrity crush...and if she had a choice between her favorite celebrity and Chad, well, Chad could kiss her goodbye. But without the kiss.

"So much for not being a threat," Taylor whispered ironically, and both of them laughed.

They leaned in closer to each other until their foreheads touched. Taylor closed her eyes in the warm comfort of his embrace and Ryan continued to stroke her hair back, breathing in her scent.

"I wish I could take some of heaven back down to earth with me," he mumbled quietly.

Taylor gave him a small grin, "You're so cheesy, Ryan."

He smirked. "But that's why you like me, right?"

She let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed, opening her eyes to look into his. "But heaven might not be as far away as you think."

He smiled broadly. "Is that a promise?"

Nodding furiously, she retorted, "That's a promise."

Sharpay's voice carried into their enclosure. "FIVE, FOUR, THREE…"

Swiftly, the two moved away from each other and proceeded to sit calmly on the floor, as though absolutely nothing had transpired. No need to make a scene of it…yet.

"ONE!" Sharpay threw open the closet doors and peeked inside. Apparently, she had been the only one eager enough to see if the two had actually done _anything_ at all in the closet. Everyone else was just sitting back, chatting, eating and watching TV.

Nonchalantly, Ryan and Taylor rose from their sitting positions and sauntered out of the closet. Ryan placed his hands in his pockets and tried his best to look uninterested so that only Taylor and Sharpay could notice the slight lift in the corners of his mouth.

Sharpay gave him a look of shock and demanded, "What did you do in there?"

Ryan lifted his shoulders and spared a glance over at Taylor.

"I spent seven minutes in heaven," he said vaguely, beaming.

Taylor, however, was walking over to the boys and Gabriella, who were all seated on the couch, watching the basketball game.

"Hey. I'm back," she said neutrally.

Chad did not remove his gaze from the TV, and he shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth before answering, "That's great."

Taylor rolled her eyes, as did Gabriella, who got off of the couch and stood next to her.

Gabriella sized up her best friend, making note of the look of sheer joy in Taylor's eyes. "So…how was it really?"

Taylor grinned like an idiot, she was sure, but it didn't matter. "I think I might break up with Chad sooner than I planned…like tonight."

Gabriella's eyebrows lifted in amusement. "That good, huh?"

Taylor shrugged, "It's always good in heaven."

Gabriella stifled her laughter just enough so that she wouldn't call attention to herself. "He's rubbing off on you, already."

Taylor nodded. Then, she hugged her friend, so that she could tell her in confidence, "Thanks for getting him invited for me."

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**So...did you like it? Not care for it? Enjoy it to an extent? Find mistakes? Want to hug me for writing it? Get confused? Or perhaps you just wish for me to get on with the next chapter...whatever you feel, tell it to me in a review, please. I would appreciate it dearly.**


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